This invention relates to an ebullient cooling system for a power device and more particularly to such a cooling system employed in conjunction with a thyratron.
Essentially, there are a great many high power gas tube devices which are employed in present technology. These devices operate at high voltage and/or high current at relatively high frequency and as such, dissipate a great deal of power. Examples of such devices are gas tubes such as thyratrons and ignitrons. Essentially, if a grid or grids are placed between the anode and cathode in a hot cathode, gas filled rectifier tube, the device is referred to as a thyratron.
There are many suitable examples and explanations of operation of thyratron devices in the prior art and both the operation and the construction of such devices is relatively well known. These devices are used to switch high voltage or high current at relatively high switching rates. Present technology employs the thyratron for switching power in highly sophisticated systems, such as radar equipment, laser technology, isotope separation, fusion and photochemistry.
Basically, modern technology has determined many uses for such devices; which uses are consistent with demands for higher power and higher switching operation. As one can well imagine, there are many problems which limit the performance of existing high power devices, such as thyratrons and various other high power devices.
Paticularly, the problems are inherent with overheating of the device due to the higher power requirements, arcing between elements of the device due to the high voltages, non-uniform heating of the device resulting in stress related mechanical failures, high impedances of the device which result from the larger size necessitated by the high power handling capability and hence, the large size associated with a device capable of handling such large power.
Basically, the design of conventional thyratrons or high power devices is limited in a number of ways by the large ceramics which must be employed to provide voltage insulation between the different elements of the tube. Modern thyratrons employ ceramic sections which serve to insulate the various sections of the thyratron when used in high power applications. The size of these ceramics determine the operating voltage of the device and as above indicated, the higher the requirements, the larger are the ceramics.
In any event, such devices in operation are normally cooled by the use of a fan. This cooling operation presents further problems in that stresses are developed on the device based on the fact that the cooling fan or blower tends to cool one side of the device preferentially and thus, the device develops a temperature gradient which results in mechanical stresses and consequent device failure.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an ebullient cooling system to be employed with a power device such as a thyratron to effectively cool the device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ebullient cooling system operating in conjunction with a thyratron which enables compact construction of a thyratron capable of dissipating large amounts of power at high frequency.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved thyratron switching device which will operate at higher power, lower impedance in a smaller package and with greater reliability than prior art devices, all afforded by an ebullient cooling system operated in conjunction with the device.